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Jodo Kast's Savage Tidings (Updated July 9, 2007)
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<blockquote data-quote="Jodo Kast" data-source="post: 3436038" data-attributes="member: 4810"><p><strong>The Nixie Reclaimed</strong></p><p></p><p>As much as the timid halfling in Rubbumba wanted to cry and give up after seeing his friend Johari -- though their acquaintance was brief -- so brutally slain, he understood that this was neither the time nor the place for an emotional breakdown. Besides, Zhandle might see him, and he felt compelled to maintain a brave facade. After making sure that his wife was perfectly safe, Rubb ventured back upstairs and took the time to carefully explore the ship's cabins. He was looking for the purse that they had come for in the first place -- before things took a turn for the worst. A search of the various cabins in the ship uncovered a large trunk in the captain's quarters, within which Rubb found a leather pouch containing 100 platinum pieces -- the Lady Vanderboren's missing payment to the harbormaster, no doubt.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile in the hold, Jouko grinned at Gauruloc across the gruesome corpse of the rhagodessa. Jouko knew the half-orc from his recent voyage on the merchant caravel, The Darkmaiden's Dance, out of Port Joli. "Tis a fine greeting to be sure. But next time, 'ahoy' will do, mate."</p><p></p><p>Gauruloc barely heard him. The half-orc was hunting through the ship's hold, absently cursing the "civilized" races for wasting perfectly good steel on weapons not fit to clean his teeth. Gauruloc didn't have to look far. He spotted his own weapons and shield in the crew quarters. With a satisfied (and relieved) grunt, Gauruloc slung his shield on to his back, and sheathed his proper sword.</p><p></p><p>"So what were you and the little snacklings doing on board this ship, human?" the half-orc asked Jouko as he strode over to the druid's carcass to see what he might salvage for future use.</p><p></p><p>Rubb, having returned to the rest of the party jingling Lady Vanderboren's purse in front of himself triumphantly, started to object to being referred to as a "snackling." However, a second look at Gauruloc in all his fully armed, menacing glory prompted the halfling to bite his tongue. Instead, Rubb shook the sack containing Lavinia's platinum in the half-orc's direction. "The scoundrel who dove over the edge of the ship was a dishonest businessman. A thug, and a thief. We came here to take back something that didn't rightfully belong to him."</p><p></p><p>Gauruloc reared his head high and belted out a hoot of laughter. "'Rightfully?' You worry too much about nothing, morsel. The pig's stomach that held that payment and bound me to be breakfast for that ten-legs was its 'rightful' owner. You threw him to the sharks and now you are its 'rightful' owner. Propriety and 'right' are a luxury of the powerful who can play such games. In my mother's tribe, such blathering would have gotten you eaten after a good, hearty laugh. Enjoy your swag, little one, and sleep well knowing that you earned it by the right of your tiny fists."</p><p></p><p>Gauruloc turned back to Johari's corpse. The druid traveled light, her possessions amounting to little more than a hide bikini, a (mostly crushed) wicker shield, a scimitar, a sling and 20 bullets, 2 scrolls of cure light wounds, a leather necklace strung with fearsome looking teeth, and a small pouch with 4 silver pieces.</p><p></p><p>Gauruloc considered the loot. "These word-spells are useful to me. And what of this necklace? Is this ensorceled, Sharp-Ears?" The half-orc cast detect magic, and checked first the necklace, then the rest of Johari's belongings. Other than the scrolls, it appeared the druid's possessions were rather mundane.</p><p></p><p>Nonetheless, Jouko casually bent over and retrieved the leather necklace from Johari's corpse. "She would have wanted me to have this," he offered as he strung the necklace around his filthy neck. Looking pleased with himself, he eyed the snackl -- er, halfling, Rubbumba. "Right, now about the Lady Lavinia's purse...."</p><p></p><p>Rubb looked sideways at Jouko and tucked the purse into one of his many pouches, tying it tight. "The lady's money goes back where it belongs... to the lady," he said, with a barely disguised accusatory tone in his voice.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Zhandle stood in a corner, teetering back and forth with a hand over her mouth, waging a losing battle against her gag reflex. After emptying everything that was in her stomach earlier, her body now registered its distaste for the casual looting of a slain ally with a painful bout of dry heaves. Zhandle began to fixate obsessively on the rocking and swaying of the ship. Moving, always moving and rocking and swaying. Exasperated and exhausted she screamed out hysterically, "DOes thE MOTion EVer stOP!"</p><p></p><p>Then, as if the violent outburst had unearthed a buried memory, Zhandle blurted, "Ring." Then, more emphatically, "RING!" Much of her hair had fallen from it's usual neat bun, stray chunks of vomit coated her cheek and sleeves, and her left eye was weirdly twitching. Between her appearance and sudden wailing, Zhandle seemed more banshee than halfling. "NEed tO FInd tHE RIng foR VAulT! THen cAN WE get OFF thIS ROckiNG NIghtmARE!"</p><p></p><p>Having spoken her mind, Zhandle cautiously formed a small grin. The grin expanded across suddenly ballooning cheeks, however, and when it seemed her face could grow no larger, the smile exploded in a fresh surge of discharge. It seemed her stomach had not yet disgorged all of its cheesy contents, after all.</p><p></p><p>Rubb smiled at Zhan and moved to kiss her on the cheek. Spotting a chunk of something from last night's dinner, however, he decided a pat on the back of the head was more appropriate. "You are right, my loveling. I was so excited about the money, I had forgotten all about the ring. Oh my ... I hope it didn't end up as shark bait, too! I will take a second look around. If it is here, I will find it." Rubb glared at Gauruloc. "And I will return it to it's RIGHTFUL owner."</p><p></p><p>Back in the captain's quarters, in a secret panel in the headboard of the captain's bunk, Rubbumba found Lavinia's father's signet ring. A scrap of rolled up parchment was threaded through the ring. Written on it was a strange list of monsters -- chimera, cyclops, medusa, umber hulk, basilisk -- with the word 'sunrise' or 'sunset' appearing after the name of each exotic creature. Rubb tucked the ring into his deepest of pockets for safekeeping. Although he would share his find with Zhandle later, he did not reveal the ring to either Jouko or the half-orc -- he did not entirely trust either of them.</p><p></p><p>The adrenaline of the morning's events beginning to fade, and the realization that achieving their goal cost the life of a companion starting to sink in, Rubbumba turned his attention to his wife. As exciting and horrifying as this adventure had been for him, he had not yet stopped to consider how completely traumatic it must have been for poor Zhandle. Putting an arm around her shoulder, he looked to Jouko in a pleading manner. "Please, pirate. Let us be done with this accursed ship. Let's get this money back to Lady Lavinia, collect our reward, and seek some peaceful respite." He stood staring at Jouko as if for guidance, stealing uneasy glances at the half-orc. Rubb was still not quite sure what to make of this crude, and frightening addition to the party.</p><p></p><p>Jouko's eyes lit up at the mention of reward money. "Yes indeed wee one, lets be seeing the lady of the manor 'bout our payment." Jouko slid up beside Rubb and placed his arm upon his shoulder.</p><p></p><p>Gauruloc had not found the answers he sought aboard the Blue Nixie. However, this talk of a Lady, the rightful owner of the boat, was intriguing. If the boat belonged to her, then so must the crest that flew above it. If his dream was any indication, Sharp-Ears wanted him to meet this Lady, though for what purpose he could not yet fathom. While the others went about securing the dinghy Zhandle and Johari had piloted out to the Nixie little more than an hour ago, Gauruloc emerged from the hold of the ship carrying the rapiers that had belonged to Vark and Mera, and Johari's scrolls and pouch.</p><p></p><p>"I come with you, snacklings. I wish to meet this employer of yours for my own reasons." He noticed the other corpses about, and began to search them. "Those who leave enough for the vultures are usually the vultures' next meal."</p><p></p><p>Rubb, Zhandle and Jouko had already boarded the dinghy by the time Gauruloc finished his looting and looked down at them from the Nixie. "Watch your delicious little heads, morsels," he snickered as he began to toss suits of leather armor, crossbows and bucklers over the side of the Nixie and into the rowboat. Gauruloc then clambered down a rope to the dinghy, making no effort to conceal a single pirate's purse he confiscated from one of the carcasses that was now bulging with coin, or the sheathed masterwork rapier that had once been Soller Vark's. "This haul should fetch some good coin. Now, how do these water-wagons move?"</p><p></p><p>************************************************************************************</p><p></p><p>The party made it safely back to Vanderboren Manor, which Gauruloc found to be disturbingly familiar. Not surprisingly, Gauruloc recognized Lady Vanderboren as well.</p><p></p><p>For her part, Lavinia appeared overjoyed that the party managed to reclaim the Blue Nixie and her purse, and even more so that they found Verik Vanderboren's signet ring. She seemed sincerely saddened and disturbed by news of Johari's demise, and thanked Gauruloc for his role in reclaiming the Nixie.</p><p></p><p>"As promised, I'll pay each of you 200 gold once I've access to my vault. Gauruloc, it is only fair that you should receive Johari's share. Meanwhile, I have another proposal for you. I'm so pleased with your work thus far that I would like to hire you on as my personal troubleshooters, agents and bodyguards. I can only offer you 100 gp per month to remain in my employ. However, your service to one of Sasserine's noble families could have advantages and rewards beyond your monthly wage.</p><p></p><p>"I already have a task in mind for you. I need to travel to Castle Teraknian to check my family vault. All of Sasserine's nobility have vaults under the castle, but I've never seen any of them -- including the family vault. Rumors hold that some family vaults are quite extensive and guarded by traps. Based on things I overheard my father say through the years, I suspect that the Vanderboren vault is relatively small and safe, but there may be a construct guardian. I would like you to accompany me to Castle Teraknian to provide protection and aid in investigating the vault contents."</p><p></p><p>Jouko's eyes gleamed with the mention of payment, though he seemed generally disinterested in remaining in the rest of Lady Vanderboren's speech as he wandered around the room, ogling everything of worth. At Lavinia's mention of the vaults beneath Castle Teraknian, however, he spun on his heel. "But of course we be pleased to help ye, m'lady. I am yer humble servant here to aid ye in this troubling time," he said with a gold-toothed grin.</p><p></p><p>Zhandle slumped onto Rubb's shoulder and tugged on his shirt sleeve, whispering with sour breath. "I need to freshen up and rest first before going anywhere. I feel so drained and sticky. I just hate it when I'm sticky!"</p><p></p><p>"It is settled, then," said Lavinia. "Take the remainder of the day to rest and tend to your personal affairs. I will see you all here tomorrow morning."</p><p></p><p>************************************************************************************</p><p></p><p>Rubbumba and Zhandlegarrii returned to their small apartment behind the Alchemy Guild Hall. After a day spent washing, resting and washing some more, Zhan finally felt halfling again. She straightened her skirt and gently pressed her hair to stay in place, and headed derterminedly out the door. She knew exactly what she was looking for, and ticked off a mental check list out loud as she walked through Sasserine's streets. Eventually she arrived at her destination -- the library. She threw open the large wooden double doors and stumbled through, talking to herself distractedly and drawing a number of annoyed glances. After fumbling out appologies, she spent the rest of the afternoon poring over scholarly manuscripts and dusty tomes until at last she found the object of her search. "Ah HA!" She smiled and rubbed her hands lovingly over the small leather bound book. A Dwarf's Journal of Adventuring by Thoersten Coppersmiter, the book's spine proclaimed.</p><p></p><p>"No doubt I'll find courage in these pages," she declared. "No more shall I suffer the bitter indignities of seasickness, barf, upchuck, spew, hurl and keck in the heat of adventure!" All eyes in the library turned to her, and, cheeks blazing, she borrowed the book and abashedly made her exit.</p><p></p><p>************************************************************************************</p><p></p><p>While Zhandle explored the library, Rubbumba cleaned the battle grime off of his tiny body and sifted through his findings. In all, the little halfling was pleased with his haul. He had managed to harvest several nice bulbs of sweet whitecaps from a sewer tunnel in a previous adventure, very useful in the creation of healing potions and salves. In addition, he snagged a few pale creepers, which always brought in good cash due to their use as a hardening agent in crafting masterwork armor. Whistling a happy tune, Rubb marched down to the alchemy shop to reap his profits.</p><p></p><p>Shortly after Rubb returned to the apartment, his coin purse a bit fatter, Zhandle burst through the door, panting and proudly brandishing a book entitled A Dwarf's Journal of Adventuring. "Lookie! I am going to be a seasoned adventurer in no time!" Full of ambition, she quickly thumbed through a few pages, a smile spreading across her face. "Rubb, we need to go shopping! I think I need to buy some ale. Can Lightning carry gallon jugs? Hmm, maybe a flask will do for the present...." She babbled on more to herself than to Rubb as she handed him his wee coat and pushed him out the door.</p><p></p><p>************************************************************************************</p><p></p><p>That night, Jouko boldy strolled into the Speared Fish and looked around happily. Eyeing a table rimmed with drunken sailors, he bellowed loudly, "By Procan's beard ye be a sorry lot! Belle! Bring us a chair and a mug o'yer worst!" Jouko elbowed his way across the bustling tavern, grabbed a chair and mug from the flustered barmaid, and took a seat with the boisterous sailors.</p><p></p><p>"What ye bilge rats been in ta?" he asked between gulps of ale. "I ain't seen ye in three moons. 'Twas the Port Joli and that load o'cheese!" he said, pinching his nose. The table erupted into laughter and descended into raucous talk of days gone past. Jouko spent the remainder of the night drinking heavily and chasing bar wenches.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jodo Kast, post: 3436038, member: 4810"] [b]The Nixie Reclaimed[/b] As much as the timid halfling in Rubbumba wanted to cry and give up after seeing his friend Johari -- though their acquaintance was brief -- so brutally slain, he understood that this was neither the time nor the place for an emotional breakdown. Besides, Zhandle might see him, and he felt compelled to maintain a brave facade. After making sure that his wife was perfectly safe, Rubb ventured back upstairs and took the time to carefully explore the ship's cabins. He was looking for the purse that they had come for in the first place -- before things took a turn for the worst. A search of the various cabins in the ship uncovered a large trunk in the captain's quarters, within which Rubb found a leather pouch containing 100 platinum pieces -- the Lady Vanderboren's missing payment to the harbormaster, no doubt. Meanwhile in the hold, Jouko grinned at Gauruloc across the gruesome corpse of the rhagodessa. Jouko knew the half-orc from his recent voyage on the merchant caravel, The Darkmaiden's Dance, out of Port Joli. "Tis a fine greeting to be sure. But next time, 'ahoy' will do, mate." Gauruloc barely heard him. The half-orc was hunting through the ship's hold, absently cursing the "civilized" races for wasting perfectly good steel on weapons not fit to clean his teeth. Gauruloc didn't have to look far. He spotted his own weapons and shield in the crew quarters. With a satisfied (and relieved) grunt, Gauruloc slung his shield on to his back, and sheathed his proper sword. "So what were you and the little snacklings doing on board this ship, human?" the half-orc asked Jouko as he strode over to the druid's carcass to see what he might salvage for future use. Rubb, having returned to the rest of the party jingling Lady Vanderboren's purse in front of himself triumphantly, started to object to being referred to as a "snackling." However, a second look at Gauruloc in all his fully armed, menacing glory prompted the halfling to bite his tongue. Instead, Rubb shook the sack containing Lavinia's platinum in the half-orc's direction. "The scoundrel who dove over the edge of the ship was a dishonest businessman. A thug, and a thief. We came here to take back something that didn't rightfully belong to him." Gauruloc reared his head high and belted out a hoot of laughter. "'Rightfully?' You worry too much about nothing, morsel. The pig's stomach that held that payment and bound me to be breakfast for that ten-legs was its 'rightful' owner. You threw him to the sharks and now you are its 'rightful' owner. Propriety and 'right' are a luxury of the powerful who can play such games. In my mother's tribe, such blathering would have gotten you eaten after a good, hearty laugh. Enjoy your swag, little one, and sleep well knowing that you earned it by the right of your tiny fists." Gauruloc turned back to Johari's corpse. The druid traveled light, her possessions amounting to little more than a hide bikini, a (mostly crushed) wicker shield, a scimitar, a sling and 20 bullets, 2 scrolls of cure light wounds, a leather necklace strung with fearsome looking teeth, and a small pouch with 4 silver pieces. Gauruloc considered the loot. "These word-spells are useful to me. And what of this necklace? Is this ensorceled, Sharp-Ears?" The half-orc cast detect magic, and checked first the necklace, then the rest of Johari's belongings. Other than the scrolls, it appeared the druid's possessions were rather mundane. Nonetheless, Jouko casually bent over and retrieved the leather necklace from Johari's corpse. "She would have wanted me to have this," he offered as he strung the necklace around his filthy neck. Looking pleased with himself, he eyed the snackl -- er, halfling, Rubbumba. "Right, now about the Lady Lavinia's purse...." Rubb looked sideways at Jouko and tucked the purse into one of his many pouches, tying it tight. "The lady's money goes back where it belongs... to the lady," he said, with a barely disguised accusatory tone in his voice. Meanwhile, Zhandle stood in a corner, teetering back and forth with a hand over her mouth, waging a losing battle against her gag reflex. After emptying everything that was in her stomach earlier, her body now registered its distaste for the casual looting of a slain ally with a painful bout of dry heaves. Zhandle began to fixate obsessively on the rocking and swaying of the ship. Moving, always moving and rocking and swaying. Exasperated and exhausted she screamed out hysterically, "DOes thE MOTion EVer stOP!" Then, as if the violent outburst had unearthed a buried memory, Zhandle blurted, "Ring." Then, more emphatically, "RING!" Much of her hair had fallen from it's usual neat bun, stray chunks of vomit coated her cheek and sleeves, and her left eye was weirdly twitching. Between her appearance and sudden wailing, Zhandle seemed more banshee than halfling. "NEed tO FInd tHE RIng foR VAulT! THen cAN WE get OFF thIS ROckiNG NIghtmARE!" Having spoken her mind, Zhandle cautiously formed a small grin. The grin expanded across suddenly ballooning cheeks, however, and when it seemed her face could grow no larger, the smile exploded in a fresh surge of discharge. It seemed her stomach had not yet disgorged all of its cheesy contents, after all. Rubb smiled at Zhan and moved to kiss her on the cheek. Spotting a chunk of something from last night's dinner, however, he decided a pat on the back of the head was more appropriate. "You are right, my loveling. I was so excited about the money, I had forgotten all about the ring. Oh my ... I hope it didn't end up as shark bait, too! I will take a second look around. If it is here, I will find it." Rubb glared at Gauruloc. "And I will return it to it's RIGHTFUL owner." Back in the captain's quarters, in a secret panel in the headboard of the captain's bunk, Rubbumba found Lavinia's father's signet ring. A scrap of rolled up parchment was threaded through the ring. Written on it was a strange list of monsters -- chimera, cyclops, medusa, umber hulk, basilisk -- with the word 'sunrise' or 'sunset' appearing after the name of each exotic creature. Rubb tucked the ring into his deepest of pockets for safekeeping. Although he would share his find with Zhandle later, he did not reveal the ring to either Jouko or the half-orc -- he did not entirely trust either of them. The adrenaline of the morning's events beginning to fade, and the realization that achieving their goal cost the life of a companion starting to sink in, Rubbumba turned his attention to his wife. As exciting and horrifying as this adventure had been for him, he had not yet stopped to consider how completely traumatic it must have been for poor Zhandle. Putting an arm around her shoulder, he looked to Jouko in a pleading manner. "Please, pirate. Let us be done with this accursed ship. Let's get this money back to Lady Lavinia, collect our reward, and seek some peaceful respite." He stood staring at Jouko as if for guidance, stealing uneasy glances at the half-orc. Rubb was still not quite sure what to make of this crude, and frightening addition to the party. Jouko's eyes lit up at the mention of reward money. "Yes indeed wee one, lets be seeing the lady of the manor 'bout our payment." Jouko slid up beside Rubb and placed his arm upon his shoulder. Gauruloc had not found the answers he sought aboard the Blue Nixie. However, this talk of a Lady, the rightful owner of the boat, was intriguing. If the boat belonged to her, then so must the crest that flew above it. If his dream was any indication, Sharp-Ears wanted him to meet this Lady, though for what purpose he could not yet fathom. While the others went about securing the dinghy Zhandle and Johari had piloted out to the Nixie little more than an hour ago, Gauruloc emerged from the hold of the ship carrying the rapiers that had belonged to Vark and Mera, and Johari's scrolls and pouch. "I come with you, snacklings. I wish to meet this employer of yours for my own reasons." He noticed the other corpses about, and began to search them. "Those who leave enough for the vultures are usually the vultures' next meal." Rubb, Zhandle and Jouko had already boarded the dinghy by the time Gauruloc finished his looting and looked down at them from the Nixie. "Watch your delicious little heads, morsels," he snickered as he began to toss suits of leather armor, crossbows and bucklers over the side of the Nixie and into the rowboat. Gauruloc then clambered down a rope to the dinghy, making no effort to conceal a single pirate's purse he confiscated from one of the carcasses that was now bulging with coin, or the sheathed masterwork rapier that had once been Soller Vark's. "This haul should fetch some good coin. Now, how do these water-wagons move?" ************************************************************************************ The party made it safely back to Vanderboren Manor, which Gauruloc found to be disturbingly familiar. Not surprisingly, Gauruloc recognized Lady Vanderboren as well. For her part, Lavinia appeared overjoyed that the party managed to reclaim the Blue Nixie and her purse, and even more so that they found Verik Vanderboren's signet ring. She seemed sincerely saddened and disturbed by news of Johari's demise, and thanked Gauruloc for his role in reclaiming the Nixie. "As promised, I'll pay each of you 200 gold once I've access to my vault. Gauruloc, it is only fair that you should receive Johari's share. Meanwhile, I have another proposal for you. I'm so pleased with your work thus far that I would like to hire you on as my personal troubleshooters, agents and bodyguards. I can only offer you 100 gp per month to remain in my employ. However, your service to one of Sasserine's noble families could have advantages and rewards beyond your monthly wage. "I already have a task in mind for you. I need to travel to Castle Teraknian to check my family vault. All of Sasserine's nobility have vaults under the castle, but I've never seen any of them -- including the family vault. Rumors hold that some family vaults are quite extensive and guarded by traps. Based on things I overheard my father say through the years, I suspect that the Vanderboren vault is relatively small and safe, but there may be a construct guardian. I would like you to accompany me to Castle Teraknian to provide protection and aid in investigating the vault contents." Jouko's eyes gleamed with the mention of payment, though he seemed generally disinterested in remaining in the rest of Lady Vanderboren's speech as he wandered around the room, ogling everything of worth. At Lavinia's mention of the vaults beneath Castle Teraknian, however, he spun on his heel. "But of course we be pleased to help ye, m'lady. I am yer humble servant here to aid ye in this troubling time," he said with a gold-toothed grin. Zhandle slumped onto Rubb's shoulder and tugged on his shirt sleeve, whispering with sour breath. "I need to freshen up and rest first before going anywhere. I feel so drained and sticky. I just hate it when I'm sticky!" "It is settled, then," said Lavinia. "Take the remainder of the day to rest and tend to your personal affairs. I will see you all here tomorrow morning." ************************************************************************************ Rubbumba and Zhandlegarrii returned to their small apartment behind the Alchemy Guild Hall. After a day spent washing, resting and washing some more, Zhan finally felt halfling again. She straightened her skirt and gently pressed her hair to stay in place, and headed derterminedly out the door. She knew exactly what she was looking for, and ticked off a mental check list out loud as she walked through Sasserine's streets. Eventually she arrived at her destination -- the library. She threw open the large wooden double doors and stumbled through, talking to herself distractedly and drawing a number of annoyed glances. After fumbling out appologies, she spent the rest of the afternoon poring over scholarly manuscripts and dusty tomes until at last she found the object of her search. "Ah HA!" She smiled and rubbed her hands lovingly over the small leather bound book. A Dwarf's Journal of Adventuring by Thoersten Coppersmiter, the book's spine proclaimed. "No doubt I'll find courage in these pages," she declared. "No more shall I suffer the bitter indignities of seasickness, barf, upchuck, spew, hurl and keck in the heat of adventure!" All eyes in the library turned to her, and, cheeks blazing, she borrowed the book and abashedly made her exit. ************************************************************************************ While Zhandle explored the library, Rubbumba cleaned the battle grime off of his tiny body and sifted through his findings. In all, the little halfling was pleased with his haul. He had managed to harvest several nice bulbs of sweet whitecaps from a sewer tunnel in a previous adventure, very useful in the creation of healing potions and salves. In addition, he snagged a few pale creepers, which always brought in good cash due to their use as a hardening agent in crafting masterwork armor. Whistling a happy tune, Rubb marched down to the alchemy shop to reap his profits. Shortly after Rubb returned to the apartment, his coin purse a bit fatter, Zhandle burst through the door, panting and proudly brandishing a book entitled A Dwarf's Journal of Adventuring. "Lookie! I am going to be a seasoned adventurer in no time!" Full of ambition, she quickly thumbed through a few pages, a smile spreading across her face. "Rubb, we need to go shopping! I think I need to buy some ale. Can Lightning carry gallon jugs? Hmm, maybe a flask will do for the present...." She babbled on more to herself than to Rubb as she handed him his wee coat and pushed him out the door. ************************************************************************************ That night, Jouko boldy strolled into the Speared Fish and looked around happily. Eyeing a table rimmed with drunken sailors, he bellowed loudly, "By Procan's beard ye be a sorry lot! Belle! Bring us a chair and a mug o'yer worst!" Jouko elbowed his way across the bustling tavern, grabbed a chair and mug from the flustered barmaid, and took a seat with the boisterous sailors. "What ye bilge rats been in ta?" he asked between gulps of ale. "I ain't seen ye in three moons. 'Twas the Port Joli and that load o'cheese!" he said, pinching his nose. The table erupted into laughter and descended into raucous talk of days gone past. Jouko spent the remainder of the night drinking heavily and chasing bar wenches. [/QUOTE]
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Jodo Kast's Savage Tidings (Updated July 9, 2007)
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